Lost for Words
by abby-sarajane
Summary: Seto Kaiba has always been the master of his own life. And yet he can never fully escape the control of someone else. A single peice of paper changes his life, and throws a wrench into his plans. And also forces him to marry. Not Yaoi.
1. Welcome to the Machine

_Like repels like._

* * *

Seto Kaiba's day had started out rather nice. No day was perfect, but he could accept that. He went to work at the same unholy hour that he always did. He fired two people, skipped lunch, and attended a few meetings. All in all, a rather successful day. No one shot at him, no one kidnapped his little brother, and no one called in any bomb threats. 

One of his more successful and productive days, really.

He even left work slightly early (meaning seven pm instead of eight) to go home and spend a little time with Mokuba before he sent him to bed.

"Nii-sama, there's someone in your office waiting for you," Mokuba looked up at him as he walked into the den. "It's the lawyer. Someone else is with him too..."

Seto blinked, then frowned. "Thanks, Mokuba. Homework done?"

Mokuba sighed. "Yes..."

"Good." Seto smiled softly and ruffled his hair a little. "I'll be down to play a game with you in a little bit, ok? Just let me deal with the lawyer."

Mokuba snickered. "Don't fry his ass too badly, ok, nii-sama?"

"Language." Seto glanced over at his shoulder at him as he headed up the stairs.

"Jounouchi uses worse."

Seto just sighed and shook his head. "No more speaking to that mediocre duellist."

"Sure, niisama. Sure."

Seto decided to ignore him and simply head to his office. It was safer that way. He sighed and walked into his office, moving over to his desk without looking at the people in the room. "What do you want now, Misamura?"

"Mr. Kaiba, may I introduce you Miss Tasmin Witherspoon." Misamura gestured to the slim, short woman behind him. Seto spared one glance at her, then looked back at Wilkins.

"Hn. I don't want sex, I didn't sign a contract for a publicity stunt and the baby isn't mine." He turned back to his desk, ignoring the woman's choked-off words of anger.

"No, no, Mr. Kaiba, you misunderstand me." Misamura's oily-smooth voice made the hair on the back of Seto's neck rise. "Miss Witherspoon is your wife."

Seto cranked around to stare at him. "_What_!"

Misamura smirked faintly. "Your... father and the Lord Witherspoon have a long-standing contract dictating this marriage."

The woman muttered something in English, something that sounded distinctly rude. Seto turned an infuriated glare on Misamura. "I am _not_ marrying that!"

"You don't have a choice." Misamura handed him an official document. "You've been married to her since you were adopted. If you decline the marriage, the contract and the company go to Mokuba, and you go to the streets. It's your choice, Mr. Kaiba."

Every muscle in Seto's body was tense in his attempt to keep from throttling the man. From the look on the woman's face, she wanted to do the same. "Fine." He snatched the contract from the lawyer. "I'll find a way to annul this and we can work everything out." His eyes flicked to the woman, then back on Misamura. "You're fired. Get out. If I ever see you again, you _will_ regret it."

Misamura seemed to know that he had worn out his welcome, and he quickly bowed slightly and hurried out. Seto took this time to examine the woman.

His first impression of the woman was that she was a total and utter homicidal bitch. But Misamura had that effect on people. He decided to just examine her physical features and let her calm down a bit before he determined her personality. She looked rather plain, as women went. She had no overly striking features, nothing stood out beyond the rest. She would have easily blended into a crowd with the right clothing. And yet, this was to be his wife? Who had chosen her? The only thing that made her stick out was her stark-black outfit. _First order- new wardrobe. And it's definitely not some publicity stunt then, unless they wanted "ordinary nutjob" instead of "swimsuit model."_

"No."

Seto blinked a little, then raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even say anything."

"You had not to." Clearly her Japanese needed a little work, and she struggled for a moment to put words together in a comprehensive form. "I see your look."

Seto smirked and switched to English easily. "You should've done your homework better."

"Sod off, prick," she switched back to English as well. "It's not my fault your bloody language is all ass-backwards."

"But to _us_, your language is," he pointed out in a maddeningly calm way. "Don't worry about it. I will get rid of you shortly."

"I feel bloody loved," she muttered, looking around. "Do you have a room for me, or will I have to sleep in the garden, _Mr._ Kaiba?"

"You will have a room," Seto waved a hand a bit. "I'm not _that_ heartless."

"Could've fooled me." She looked around a bit more, then shrugged. "Fine. Show me to my room."

"Where are your bags? I will have someone bring them in..." Seto turned towards the door.

"Already got 'em." Tasmin slung two duffel bags over her shoulders. "Just show me and spare me the pleasantries."

Seto resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and stalked off down the hall. _Lovely woman. Thank you _so_ much, Gozaburo. I see your tastes were just as sick back then too. Damn you for still being able to run my life!_ He seethed inwardly, but was careful to keep his face expressionless. _I am eighteen years old, you have been dead for _four years_, leave me alone! Stop haunting me, you bastard!_

He waved to the room he'd mentally picked out for her already, and then turned on his heel. "The kitchen is downstairs. If you can't find it, Mokuba or I will show it to you."

"Thanks," she muttered, remaining aloof and cold. "Goodnight, I assume. I won't bother you until tomorrow, unless I need to use the bathroom."

"There's one attached to the room." _Now there's no need for us to interact at all until I've figured out how to handle you, woman._

"Why thank you, _Mr._ Kaiba. How kind and convenient." _You bastard. I'm not going to hide away forever._

"Goodnight, Miss Witherspoon," Seto glanced at her over his shoulder, then headed quickly back to his office. Tasmin stalked into her room, slamming the door behind her. _Why does this sort of thing always seem to happen to me?_

Tasmin threw her bags into the wall and swore loudly. _Sodding bloody hell! I finally escape my family and I get saddled with the Ice Prince from Narnia! Bloody statues all over the place and not an emotion on his face! Peachy-fucking-keen! _She sighed softly and sat down on the bed, making a face at the size of it. _At least it's a nice bed and I'm not in the cellar._

She raked a hand through her hair and pulled out her tarot deck, tossing it to the bed, then started unpacking her duffel of clothing. _He seemed surprised that I had only two bags. I figure I'll raid his account and buy some new clothes anyway. Or maybe just raid his shirts. He looks like he has good taste..._

She paused in folding a shirt. _He _is_ attractive... I can admit that. But he'd just turn on me. If he ever let me near enough to- no. I don't want that anyway._ She squared her shoulders and stood up a bit more. _I don't care. If he won't ever care about me, then I won't ever let him touch me. And that suits me just fine. It wasn't like I wanted anything out of this marriage anyway. The bastard. Damn him! And damn my family!_

She threw the duffel down and flopped onto her bed. _Damn everything! I can unpack later. _She decided to stare up at the ceiling, and let her mind drift around. _And lo, I was a stranger in a strange land, and every man's hand was against me._

She rolled on her side and glared at the door that she had come in through. _Don't think you've seen the last of me, Kaiba. Don't you bloody well dare. I don't want to be here just as much as you don't want me here... But don't think I'm going to let you walk all over me like a bloody doormat._ Her eyes felt heavy; the tranquilizers they had used to get her onto the plane from England hadn't completely worn off like she'd thought. _I suppose... a nap won't hurt._

She sighed and curled up on the bed and closed her eyes. _Fuck. I hate life._

(o)

Seto had to get his anger out before he went outside. He couldn't show this to the press, and damned if he'd burden Mokuba with his troubles.

_Damn Gozaburo to hell! What was his reasoning behind this? Marrying me to some English bitch like I was a pawn in his fucking game? Not a chance in hell! There has to be a way out of this!_

He sat down and reread the contract for the third time. It was, without a doubt, the most brilliant piece of legal writing he'd ever seen. If he ever saw the person- or people, if it was truly written by Gozaburo and this "Lord Nathaniel Marcus Witherspoon III"- he'd like to shake their hands. Then calmly shoot them in the head, pour gasoline on the bodies and light them on fire.

Flawless. He'd go over it again later. There had do be something.

Well, obviously there was; the most obvious loophole - and what seemed to be the only one - was for one of them to die.

And even though that was so horribly, terribly tempting, he had no real intentions of being branded a murderer. He had enough stains on his soul; he didn't need this one.

He'd have to see how the woman settled in. Perhaps he could work something out with her. Even if it was something simple, like an agreement to avoid each other except for certain necessary times.

The Kaiba name did need to be carried on. He couldn't count on Mokuba to give up his child or children for training for the corporation.

He rubbed his eyes. _What am I going to do? I have two choices- accept her, or have her killed. _He brooded on that second subject. _It would be almost pathetically easy. No one knows she's here except her family. If they were willing to sign her up for a marriage to someone half a world away that they'd never met, could they really care that much about her?_

_Perhaps they thought they were doing something good for her,_ a second part of his mind pointed out. _You're rich and powerful. You could give her whatever she wanted and needed in life. They might've thought they were doing her a favor._

_Surely my reputation precedes me,_ Seto snorted, shaking his head._ Besides, the Witherspoon family is a powerful noble family. They're very rich as well, and in England, they're incredibly powerful. Lord Witherspoon is a Conservative member of the House of Lords._ His finger tapped on the wood of his desk, eying the screen of his monitor, and the information there. _He has the ear of the Queen as well. What the hell is he sending her here for?_

_He wants power. He wants the Kaiba name._ It made too much sense. _And in return, Kaiba Corporation gets half the businesses in England clamoring to buy its products. Or more._

_It's perfect. The bastards. No wonder Gozaburo set it up. No fucking wonder._

He sat back, lacing his fingers together and staring at the screen. He had to keep the woman alive, then. At least for a while, until he could discover her relationship with her family. If no one would miss her...

Well. Accidents happened.

He stared at the file, a slow frown crossing his face.

_What the hell have I become?_

_

* * *

_A/N: Don't hurt me? Reviews are the lifeblood of people with no self-esteem. So if you don't want me to have an emotional bre- I mean... if you like it, leave a little note, eh?_  
_


	2. A Pillow of Winds

A/N: OMGWTFBBQ? This is **NOT YAOI.**This _is_ Seto/O.C. I am attempting to show that not all O.C.'s are Mary Sues. I am attempting to make a believable character work in a relationship with a canon character. Jounouchi will not even come into this, except for maybe a brief moment. Kindly give this a chance. It's only been one chapter. Thanks to those who asked me _not_ to kill her. **Karen**, you're right. That's bad writing, and I would shoot myself in the head before I did that. Sorry, **CircleKV12**. No Seto/Jou. And **FantabulousWatapon**, jeez, give her a break. I doubt you'd be on your best behavior if you were tranqed, stuck on a plane and flown for thirteen hours, and then shown your new husband- who reacts by saying, in so many words, "fuck off". Give her a feakin' chance, hmm? Ugh, I know I have weird POV changes, **Cymoril**. I'm sorry. It's the way my writing is. I'll try to work on it, though. Here you are, dear **Wezen**, sorry I made you wait _oh_ so long. -snicker- And **Leaf**, you're crack-fed as usual. I less than three you.

* * *

Tasmin stirred, slowly rolling onto her back. For a long, dazed moment, she thought she was back in England.

No. The bed was too large large, too luxurious even for her room at home. The walls were different. There was only one massive window/door.

This was not her room.

She sat up, fighting off the last vestiges of grogginess. _Ugh. Fuckin' tranqs._ She staggered over to the adjoining bathroom. She wasn't entirely sure that she wasn't going to throw up.

She cranked on the hot water in the shower. Without bothering to remove her clothing, she stumbled into the shower and stood there, head bowed.

_What the hell am I really doing here? Why did I let this happen to me? Why can't I just _leave_?What do I stand to lose? My family? Oh, how _horridShe snorted, shaking her head tiredly. _That's ridiculous. I don't give a damn about them. I should just leave, and leave now. I hate this place and I've been here for... all of... Christ, what, twelve hours? If that. _

_Fuck. _She felt tired and drained, even after her nap. She was completely alone here. No one spoke English- well, anyway. There was no familiar food, faces or accents.

_I'll listen to a bleedin' Irishman talk about independence for God's sake._ She rubbed her eyes, trying not to cry. _I will _not_ cry. I won't. I _won't._ I'm strong- I have to be._

She _would not_ show weakness in front of her "husband." That idea was laughable. That man was like a wolf- one sign of weakness, and he'd eat you alive. That was the impression she'd gotten from him, both from her experience yesterday, and the little she'd seen of him on the television. He showed no emotion whatsoever as he went for your throat.

And she was married to him.

_Dammit._

(o)

Seto had firmly decided that last night had been a dream. There was no woman here. He was not married. All was well.

_Stop deluding yourself. It doesn't become you._

Seto swore quietly and brought up the woman's file. At least Witherspoon had been kind enough to cough _this_ up. Or smart enough. He wasn't certain which one it was yet.

He'd only found a few bits and pieces to interest him. Youngest child of four girls, her height, weight, date of bitch.

Things he didn't care about. Things he didn't want to know.

_What I _do_ want to know is how I can get rid of her!_ The damned woman wasn't even _allergic_ to anything.

There was something else that had been weighing on his mind- Mokuba. What was he going to tell him? He had stories planned for the press- if, indeed, the press needed to find out. They would; there was no doubt that they would. They had eyes and ears in everything. There was no hiding her forever. Which was why he had come up with _their_ story first.

But Mokuba- Mokuba was something completely different. He couldn't lie to Mokuba- for very long, anyway. And not plausibly. But he couldn't tell him the truth, either. Telling him that he was being forced to marry someone? That was all but unthinkable.

Mokuba _respected_ him. Mokuba looked up to him.

He _refused_ to be controlled by a dead man in front of his littler brother. He refused to be controlled by a dead man at all!

So, he resolved, he would ignore her. _If_ she wanted come to him to make an agreement, she was welcome to.

He seriously doubted that she would.

_So, dammit, that won't work._

He had considered, and quite seriously, hiding the woman from the world, locking her away in her room and refusing to let her out. It could work, too. He knew it would. As long as he could bend her spirit so that she wouldn't fight him. But with that wild card, it was entirely possible that the plan would fail. Her spirit seemed quite strong.

There was too much risk involved with that plan anyway. Especially if she got out. If she went to the press with that story, he would be ruined. Immediately. No chance of redemption.

So. There was no other thing for it. He couldn't get rid of her legally- yet. He had to tell Mokuba. As little as he wanted to.

"Nii-sama?"

Seto looked up, expression very serious. "Please sit, Mokuba."

Mokuba sat, looking nervous. "I didn't do it, nii-sama, whatever it was, I swear I didn't..."

Now Seto allowed himself to smile. "I'm sure you didn't, Mokuba. Don't worry, I'm not going to blame you for anything. I just need to talk to you."

Mokuba blinked, head tilting a bit. "About what, nii-sama?"

Seto took a deep breath. He didn't want to do this. But, unfortunately, he had no other choice. "Mokuba... I'm afraid that I am married."

Mokuba blinked at him for a long moment. "_Married_?"

"Yes." Seto looked his little brother in the eye. "It is an arranged marriage with a lady from England."

"Oh." Mokuba bit his lip. "...is she nice?"

"I don't know." Seto shrugged. "I'm ignoring her, really. She holds no interest for me."

Mokuba sighed. "I see." He then rubbed his chin a little. "Does she speak Japanese really well?"

"Not at all," Seto shook his head. "You'll have to speak English for her to the best of your ability."

"Cool!" Mokuba grinned. "That means we'll get to talk about her right in front of her and she won't know what we're talking about!"

"That's rude. But true," Seto admitted with a nod.

"_Cool._" Mokuba's grin was far too large for his own good. Seto was rather disturbed.

_What did I do wrong in raising him?_

(o)

Seto wasn't happy. He hoped and prayed- even if he didn't really believe in a high power- that Mokuba didn't do something stupid. It was entirely possible that he would.

Very, very possible.

He knocked politely on the woman's bedroom door. He might as well make it look good for his little brother. When he received no answer, he frowned and tried the door. Locked. _Uh-oh._ He unlocked the door and moved inside, telling Mokuba to stay where he was. _She hasn't tried to run off, has she? Or something equally stupid..._

He'd been considering having her killed, but he didn't want Mokuba to see her dead body if she'd committed suicide. _She seemed unbalanced enough to do it..._

He moved over, frowning at the cracked-open bathroom door. The light was on, but there was no water running, and no sound of movement within. Eyes narrowed, he pushed the door open. "Are you in here, woman?"

He was rewarded with a full frontal nudity shot of the woman, as she reached for a towel. It was closely followed by a shriek that would shatter glass, and a bar of soap that smacked him in the forehead.

He had let the bar of soap hit him, because he was rather distracted. _Naked... oh, __**dammit**._ He quickly jerked back out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"You _bloody fucking Peeping Tom son of a bitch I'm going to __**kill you**_! I'm going to _rip out_ your innards and _hang you_ with them!"

Seto weighed his options. He could stay here and try to explain himself to her, or he could leave.

As he heard something shatter against the door behind him, he chose the latter option, heading for the door and grabbing Mokuba's arm, giving him a terse, "she's busy" explanation.

He did _not_ want to be castrated, and it seemed like if he stayed there, that would be what happened.

"What's wrong, nii-sama?" Mokuba looked up at him as he was being pulled along.

"She was busy," Seto retorted, refusing to cast a wary glance behind him.

Mokuba blinked, then grinned. "You saw her _naked_!"

"What? No!" Seto immediately denied. "She was in the shower, that's all."

"But she was _screaming_ at you..." Mokuba's grin grew even wider. "You _did_ see her naked!"

"I am _not_ having his conversation with you, Mokuba." Seto snapped, rubbing his forehead.

"Why not?" Mokuba gave him an expression of wide-eyed innocence. "You did, didn't you?"

"Not another word, Mokuba," Seto said, irritation in his voice now. "I mean it."

Mokuba sighed and fell silent. So much for joking with his nii-sama. He really was sensitive.

(o)

Seto sat down at his desk. This was far, far more than he wanted to deal with today. He wished, above all else, that he had just gone with his instincts and avoided the woman at all costs.

But no, he'd wanted to introduce her to Mokuba. That was for the best, wasn't it? Of course.

"You- you- _you_!"

He groaned inwardly and looked up, purposefully keeping his face expressionless. "Yes?"

_Crack!_

His head jerked to the side with the force of the blow. _Damn._ She'd smacked him with all the strength she could muster. Her hand went back to hit him again and he grabbed her wrist. "_Don't_... do that again," he said, his voice too calm and too controlled.

Tasmin's lips peeled back in a soundless snarl, and she tried to yank her hand back. "Let me _go_, you bastard!"

"We need to get a few things straight." Seto was still calm as he slowly let her go. "You _will not_ touch me again."

"Fine." Tasmin scrubbed her hand on her pant leg. "I need another shower to rid myself of the _filth_ anyway."

"I didn't need to know that," he drawled, after forcing a few key images from his head. _Lovely. Simply lovely. Am I going to see that every time I close my eyes? I sincerely hope _not_. I am Seto Kaiba. I am above such... things._

And yet, Mokuba's enthusiastic voice stuck in his head. _"You _did_ see her naked!"_

_Dammit!_

"Obviously, _Mr._ Kaiba, you are a disgusting, sick pervert. I have no breath to waste on your pathetic existence." With those parting words, the woman turned and stalked out.

Seto rubbed the bridge of his nose. _That- that woman! How _dare_ she make those assumptions! She knows _nothing_ about me! What happened was an accident, nothing more! Can't that stupid woman understand that?_

He shook his head, dispelling his anger. _She isn't worth it. Obviously, she's just a self-absorbed prude. I can't believe I expected anything less from a woman like that. With her schooling, her upbringing..._

_How wonderful. I'm chained to a stuck-up bitch for the rest of my natural life. I suppose that's not a bad thing, in a way. She'll never want anything from me. That's a plus, I suppose._

_Wait- why the hell do I care about any of this? That woman isn't my problem. And one way or another, I'll work around this contract so that I get her out of here._

He sat silently for a moment, before glancing out the window. It was snowing.

He was married. And there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it.

* * *

A/N2: Remember, not yaoi. So... review? Flames will be laughed at and responded to with snide abandon. 


	3. Obscured By Clouds

A/N: Apologies for the delay. Real life and writers block suck.

* * *

Mokuba felt confused. Just yesterday, his nii-sama had been an ordinary teenager, like everyone else. Well, maybe not _that_ ordinary, but still. He'd graduated high school, and was considering college courses, even though his nii-sama was _so smart_ he could _teach_ those courses.

But now, he said, he was _married_. Was he joking? Mokuba hadn't even seen the lady that he said was his wife, much less spoken to her. It was a very real possibility.

But why would nii-sama play such a mean joke? It didn't make any sense!

So... it must not be a joke. Nii-sama didn't joke like that. Nii-sama didn't really joke at all.

Nii-sama was really married!

Mokuba didn't really know how to handle that. He didn't know her at all. What if she was really mean?

_Then she and nii-sama would get along great,_ he thought sullenly for a moment, then sighed. _No, nii-sama isn't mean. He's just... nii-sama._

He sighed and rubbed at his face. He didn't know what to think, what to feel, what to hope...

_If she's really nice, maybe she'll get nii-sama to smile, and laugh, and be happy again..._

But... if she was nice, what if nii-sama started to ignore him? What if he spent all his free time with _her_ and forgot about him?

He didn't even know her!

Granted, she didn't seem very nice so care... but nii-sama _had_ walked in on her naked. He imagined that no one would be very happy about that at all.

He chewed on his upper lip, rubbing his forehead. _This is way too hard. I can't decide anything until I meet her. I guess I have to go find her, since nii-sama's attempt to introduce us kinda fell flat..._

Nodding to himself, he wandered down the hall. _That's exactly what I'll do._ If he remembered correctly, her room was down the first hall and somewhere on the left...

He peered into the only room with light coming from under the door. A woman wrapped in a robe was pacing back and forth in the middle of the room, taking to herself.

After a moment, he realized that she wasn't talking to herself, but rather to a small stuffed hedgehog sitting on the bed.

"...And I don't bloody _understand_ it, Edward! Why? Why _me_, of all people? Honestly?"

She was speaking in very rapid, accented English, so it was relatively difficult for him to understand what she was saying. Mokuba leaned into her room just a bit more, striving to stay out of sight.

"It isn't fair at all! Why couldn't Daddy have sent- sent Catherine, or even Sophia in my place? What can _I_ do that they can't? It isn't _fair_!"

She kicked the bed and then sat down on it, rubbing her foot and muttering words in a low voice. Mokuba was pretty sure they were swear words, but he couldn't hear clearly enough to tell. She rubbed her forehead and laughed faintly, her voice taking on a peculiar quality, as if she was quoting something. "You say that so often... I wonder what your basis for comparison is."

Mokuba wasn't sure what that meant, but it didn't sound good. He moved a bit further into the room, trying to get a better look at her. It almost worked, but she dropped her face into her hands and sighed shakily.

"I don't know what the bloody fuck I'm going to do," she said, the sound muffled by her hands.

Mokuba added the phrase "bloody fuck" to his new repertoire of swear words in different languages. That one sure sounded good.

"Who the hell are you?"

Mokuba looked up quickly. _Too far in..._ The girl was looking at him through bloodshot eyes. She really looked kind of... scary. "Um, hi. I'm Mokuba."

"Who?" she blinked at him, looking completely clueless.

Either she was really bad with names, or nii-sama hadn't told her about him. It was probably the latter. "Mokuba. You know, Seto's little brother?"

That earned him another completely blank stare, and he wondered if she understood even the most rudimentary of Japanese words. He was trying to figure out how to break it down more, and simply couldn't, when she muttered something in English that he didn't catch.

"I see," she said then, louder, in horribly-accented Japanese. "Little brother. I see."

Mokuba grinned at her. "I can speak English ok, if you need me to."

She now looked visibly relieved as he switched to English, and relaxed. "Thank you... That's very appreciated."

_If I make her like me, I can get away with _so much "So where are you from?"

"England," she replied, rubbing her eyes.

"That's far away." Mokuba tilted his head, watching her. "So Nii-sama said you were his wife..."

He noticed her hands clench into white-knuckled fists. _Oh, she didn't like being reminded of that at all. She must not like him..._ "He... uh, didn't mean to see you naked, you know," he told her, trying to be helpful.

"He _told_ you that?" the woman exploded, standing suddenly. She looked absolutely wrathful, and Mokuba took a step back.

"I kind of figured it out for myself..." he rubbed the back of his neck, eying her a bit. She seemed to calm down after a moment and sat back down, sighing. _Subject change time!_ "So... I'm Mokuba," he told her again, in case she'd forgotten. "What's your name?"

After a moment, she smiled faintly and answered him. "Tasmin."

"Tasmin." Mokuba nodded; he'd never heard the name before, so he was pretty likely to remember it. "Ok, Tasmin! What do you want to do now?"

Tasmin blinked at him, clearly not comprehending. "...Do next? What do you mean?"

"Anything!" Mokuba sat down next to her. "We've got tons of games and stuff. Big brother's at work, and I'm bored.

"Ah." After a moment, she looked at him. "He works often, then?" Mokuba caught a note of sullen curiosity.

"Lots." Mokuba shrugged, as if he didn't care. "But it's his job."

The woman stared at him, gaze oddly searching. It made him a bit uncomfortable. "I see. That doesn't bother you at all?"

Mokuba shrugged and looked at the floor. He didn't have his nii-sama's great ability and schooling his expression, and hiding his feelings, and he knew it. "Not really." It didn't come out as indifferently as he would have liked.

"Not at all," Tasmin stated, and eyebrow going up.

"No, of course not." Mokuba said, crossing his arms. "I can handle it! He always spends time with me when he's home. He's the best big brother _ever_." He gave her a look that dared her to argue with him. _And it's true too... Just try to tell me otherwise!_

He watched her, waiting for her to get angry and yell at him, like she did with nii-sama. She instead watched him with an unreadable expression, then smiled at him. "I wish I felt the same way about my older siblings they way you feel about yours." Her voice was kind, and her posture slowly became more relaxed. "You seem like a wonderful lad, and a wonderful younger brother."

"Do you have a little brother?" Mokuba couldn't help but ask.

"No, no..." Tasmin shook her head. "I'm the youngest. I have three older sisters."

_Too many girls,_ Mokuba decided immediately. "I see... Are they as _cool_ as nii-sama?"

Tasmin was silent for a long moment. "...going from what you tell me, two out of three of my sisters are nothing like him. Isobel seems... somewhat similar, I suppose."

Mokuba tilted his head to one side. She didn't look too happy about talking about it. "Don't you love your sisters? I love my brother, more than anyone else!"

Now she only looked more uncomfortable. "I suppose I love my sisters. I know I love Isobel..."

Mokuba was surprised. How could you _not know_ if you loved someone? Especially your own _siblings_? You _had_ to love them. Older siblings protected you and took care of you! Nii-sama did, and he knew Jounouchi was _really_ protective of his younger sister, so weren't _all_ older siblings like that? Wasn't it a _rule_?

Tasmin must have noticed his stunned expression, because she hastened to reassure him. "I don't... hate them or anything, honestly. I just... don't think about them much anymore."

"Oh." Mokuba shook his head. It still didn't make any sense to him. "If I ever moved away from nii-sama, I would think about him _all_ the time," he told her, as if that made him a better person.

The woman only smiled faintly and nodded. "That's good for you, then. I'm glad you care about him so much."

Mokuba deflated a bit and kicked his heels against the edge of the bed. She was being really nice to him. He really couldn't not like her, so far, even if she was mean to nii-sama. Nii-sama was being kind of mean to her, so it was all right, he supposed. He thought for a bit, before coming up with another question to ask her.

"So, are you and nii-sama going on a honeymoon?" He'd heard someone in nii-sama's office talking about his honeymoon once. The man had said it was great, and used a lot of words Mokuba hadn't understood at the time. Maybe something like that would cheer nii-sama up, if it was really as good as the man had said.

Only, from what he'd looked up about honeymoons, they _really_ weren't places for little brothers. Mokuba didn't much like that thought, so it was more of a relief when Tasmin shuddered, and told him, "_God_, I hope not."

_Phew._ Mokuba really didn't want nii-sama to go anywhere. Especially without him. "You _really_ don't like nii-sama, do you?"

Tasmin sighed and shook her head, her gaze dropping to her lap. "No, lad. No, I don't. I do, however, think I'll like you." And she smiled at him, and ruffled his hair.

_Score!_ Mokuba kept his smile happy and distinctly innocent and _not evil_. "I'm really glad to hear that, Tasmin-san." _I can get away with so much stuff now when nii-sama's not around! It's going to be so awesome!_

Tasmin sighed and shook her head. "Well, I'm glad someone is..."

"I've never had a big _sister_ before," Mokuba continued, pretending not to hear her. "And it sounds like you've never had a little brother, so we should get along just great."

Tasmin smiled warmly and nodded. "Of course. I'm very, very glad to hear you say that."

Mokuba beamed and hugged her on impulse. She looked almost uncomfortable, but returned the hug after a moment.

"Thank you, Mokuba." Her voice was very soft, almost choked. He blinked at her, but she had already pulled away. "I need to finish unpacking."

Mokuba nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'll come get you when it's time to eat, ok?"

Tasmin nodded and busied herself with folding a shirt, keeping her voice averted from his. "Thank you."

Mokuba sighed and wandered out. _What's going on here? There are _so many _girls that would want to be in her shoes..._

_And nii-sama hates them,_ he reminded himself. _Of course, he's not giving her much of a chance either. I guess I shouldn't expect him to. I understand why he's being like this... Nii-sama hates being controlled, and reminded of Tou-sama. And both things are happening right now. No wonder he's in such a bad mood. Maybe he'll feel better later. Poor nii-sama._

He sighed and made his way to his brother's home office, peering in. He was as hard at work as ever before, and Mokuba couldn't help but feel a little sad and angry. _Nii-sama is always working, _always_. It isn't fair!_ Despite his attempted indifference with Tasmin, he was still unhappy. He wanted his brother to be more normal, to spend time with him in the evenings, instead of working all the time.

Maybe this lady would help. She wasn't like the other girls. Maybe she could convince Seto to spend more time with him, somehow. He'd have to work on that with her. Or, maybe she wouldn't help at all. Maybe she'd just make everything worse.

"Nii-sama?" He decided to try to distract his brother for a bit, moving into the room. "I talked to her... She seems nice to me..."

"You're not married to her," came his brother's short, curt reply. Mokuba sighed. Apparenly, his brother didn't want to talk about her. If he wanted to talk to him at all.

"I know I'm not, nii-sama. Would it help if I was?" He just wanted his nii-sama to be happy. If that meant _he_ had to marry Tasmin... well, it'd be really, really weird. But he'd try it.

"No," Seto said instantly, looking at him. "No... I'm sorry, Mokuba. I'm just unsure of what to do next."

_Translation,_ Mokuba thought, _I can't handle this problem. I'm going insane. Reassure me._

"Nii-sama..." Mokuba sighed and moved around the desk, leaning on the arm of Seto's chair. "Well, we need to figure out what we're going to do then. She doesn't seem bad, and she's not like the other girls around, right? And you've seen her naked, so you can tell if she's hot or not..."

"..." The glare that Seto gave him was enough.

"Right." Mokuba nodded and bit his lip. "I won't mention it again."

"Good." Seto turned his attention to the paperwork on his desk.

Mokuba sighed. "I guess I'll leave then." He backed off, shaking his head.

Seto glanced at him and sighed. "Mokuba... We'll talk later, all right?"

"Ok," Mokuba nodded and managed a smile, then slowly wandered out, keeping his eyes lowered. _I just wish he'd talk to me more. I guess he's going to._

_I hope he does._

_

* * *

_Questions, comments and complaints, please.


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